E-newsletter 9

Issue 10: Winter 2011

Dartmoor special 

Dartmoor stone row leading to tomb, credit C.Taylor 

Hello Community Champions, 

I hope you are keeping warm this winter, and that the cold isn’t stopping you visiting the National Parks!

Over the last few months, I know that many of you have braved the cold and organised trips to the National Parks as part of our “Let’s Do It!” fund. The fund was a huge success, and enabled many of you to organise trips that brought hundreds of new people out to the National Parks. I was especially pleased to see some Champions who had not previously organised a group visit to a National Park, enabled to do it through the fund. I hope it inspires you to do many more visits! 

The fund was such a success that we are going to try to have another similar round in 2012. We will probably give priority to Champions who didn’t take advantage of the fund last time, before opening it up to everyone. 

This issue of our newsletter focuses on Dartmoor, a National Park with its own breed of horse (the Dartmoor Pony) and “commoning” rights similar to those in Exmoor and the New Forest. It is also has excellent walking and cycling routes, as well as some important archaeological sites. If you haven’t already, I hope you make it to Dartmoor and its spectacular open landscapes. 

Nina 

Wallabrook Clapper Bridge, credit DNPA

Dartmoor National Park covers an area of 368 square miles, making it the largest and wildest area of open country in Southern England. 

Lots of people visit to enjoy the beautiful scenery and to recharge their batteries, but many come to get active! There are many ways to explore Dartmoor National Park – they choose from a range of activities including walking, cycling, riding and climbing.

Dartmoor has walks to suit everyone, no matter what your experience, level of fitness, or mobility. The Authority along with Dartmoor for All have produced the Easy Going Dartmoor publication which can help those who are less mobile or who have very young children, make the most of what Dartmoor National Park has to offer.

However, what makes Dartmoor really special is its cultural heritage – did you know that it has some of the best archaeological sites in Western Europe?

Dartmoor’s Bronze Age landscape can be seen in the remains left by ancestors over 4,000 years ago: from the round houses and their field systems that show these people were farmers through to their stone rows, standing stones and burial chambers that hint at a highly organised culture with systems of belief and possibly religious worship.

The swirling Dartmoor mists, rocky granite outcrops, lonely open moors with the haunting cries of curlew have also inspired another response – from writers and artists through time. Perhaps the most famous is Arthur Conan Doyle who chose Dartmoor as a setting for ‘The hound of the Baskervilles’ featuring that intrepid Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes. Many artists still take inspiration from the varied landscapes to this day…perhaps you might be one of them…

Working with the committed and enthusiastic Community Champions has really opened my eyes into the many and varied ways that people interact with Dartmoor – there are so many people and so many different and individual ways that each builds their own personal relationship with this ancient landscape. I have been inspired by each Champion’s approach to understanding, engagement with and then celebrating what Dartmoor means to them. I look forward to many more opportunities to work with our current Champions and providing opportunities for others into the future.

One thing’s for sure: there really is something for everyone, all year round – you don’t need big climbing boots or expensive waterproofs to enjoy Dartmoor …just bring yourself! 

Community Champion Ellis Ransom explains why he loves Dartmoor

Group on Dartmoor, credit Ellis Ransom

I would say that they main impression Dartmoor gives me is that it feels like I have been physically slowed down by the environment. The fact that I feel so connected to the nature of the area makes me stop and take things in, which is something I don't get when in an urban environment. It’s strange but I actually feel closer to the ground, actually physically shorter, which in turn makes me feel slower and more relaxed, like I’m able to explore at close hands the immediate and wider environment. 

Mosaic Project Officer Clare Taylor shares her thoughts

Andy Crabb DNPA Archaeologist in new stone circle, credit C.Taylor

Dartmoor National Park is relatively well known but what for?  Dartmoor ponies? The prison? The scenery? It is all of these things and a lot more, for example it contains over 1,200 scheduled ancient monuments – the highest number of any National Park in the UK. 

Check any Ordnance Survey map or even the online streetmap  and you will see the various ancient sites and monuments marked using an Old English Typeface which may be almost impossible to read here but really helps these features to stand out on maps. 

All over the surface of Dartmoor there is plenty of evidence left from the bronze age, Mesolithic, Neolithic and iron ages to explore. Visiting Grimspound to see the remains of round huts, I admired the builders who, 2,500 years ago, included special entrances to stop the prevailing wind whistling in. 

Dartmoor is so big and wild that Neolithic Stone rows from 3,500 years ago are still being found, they may not be as big as Stonehenge but often they aligned the same way which indicates they were not isolated. The ancient tracks, barrows and tombs give us a tiny window of the lives of ancient peoples and indicate that Dartmoor was a busy place in pre history.

What else is on the surface? Some of the most obvious hill top features are the Tors which are visible for miles around. Tors, huge piles of exposed granite, are evidence that the last major glaciation in north east Europe stopped at the Bristol Channel. This is why the Tors are still such a distinctive feature of the landscape. They were not ground down by the relentless progress of glaciers (unlike the smoother, worn away hills of the Brecon Beacons in Wales). They are worth a climb, with Haytor being one of the easiest to access and climb for all levels of ability.

A quick word about one of the best known bits, HMP Dartmoor. They say that it is so difficult to escape HMP Dartmoor and the surrounding high moorland, that when men do manage to get out, they are often found desperately knocking on the front gate a day later, asking to be let back in – especially in winter! 

Dartmoor covers the same area as Greater London so if you’ve been to Princetown and think you’ve “done” Dartmoor, think again!

A National Network of Community Champions, update by Zahid Hamid

Champions and Partners are aware of the proposal to develop a network of Mosaic community Champions, initially across England, but eventually to include the new Champions from Wales.

Following feedback at the Annual Event in the New Forest, from Champions and the Mosaic Management Team, I can report that the Mosaic team will be:

• Drafting a constitution for the Network

• Seeking confirmation from CNP that they will host the Network, in the first instance

• Contacting all Champions in early 2012 with further information.

If you have any more ideas for the Networks, please send them to me zahid@cnp.org.uk latest suggestions include MosaicNet and MCN (Mosaic Champions Network).Enjoy the festive season and hope to see many of you in 2012.